Missouri company recalls 4,000 pound of beef because of mad cow fear

KANSAS CITY — A Missouri company has recalled possibly tainted beef products distributed to two restaurants and a grocery chain, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

Jackson-based Fruitland American Meat is recalling about 4,012 pounds of beef because it could contain parts of the nervous system that can carry properties related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, the USDA said in a release Wednesday.

BSE is fatal to cows and can cause a fatal human brain disease in people who eat tainted beef.

The USDA said there's no indication the slaughtered cattle showed signs of BSE.

The department said the products were produced between September 2013 and April 2014 and were distributed to a restaurant in New York, New York, another in Kansas City, Missouri, and a Whole Foods distribution center in Connecticut.

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service found the possible problem while reviewing the company's slaughter logs and said the issue may have been a result of the manner that company employees determined the age of various cattle.

The dorsal root ganglia within the nervous system has to be removed from cattle that are 30 months and older but might have been present in some of the products.

There have been no reports of adverse reactions to eating the products, the USDA said. The agency characterized the recall as a Class II recall, meaning there's a "remote probability" of health problems associated with using the recalled product.